peer advantage – Page 12

The Peer-to-Peer Paradox

Edelman recently released the 2017 edition of its Edelman Trust Barometer. It revealed a decline in trust among all four major institutions (business, government, media, and NGOs). The words “global implosion of trust” were used to described the current state of affairs.

The Findings

Among 10 insights from the study, “a person like yourself (peer) is as credible a source for information about a company as a technical or academic expert.” As a result, the guidance for today’s organizations is as follows: “The trust crisis demands a new operating model for organizations by which they listen to all stakeholders; provide context on the issues that challenge their lives; engage in dialogue with them; and tap peers, especially employees, to lead communications and advocacy efforts.” Why? Because fellow employees are regarded as a more reliable source of information than either the CEO or the senior leadership team.

Contrast that with this finding: “People are nearly four times more likely to ignore information that supports a position they don’t believe in and don’t regularly listen to those with whom they often disagree.”

The Peer-to-Peer Paradox?

While we may trust our peers more than our institutions or their leaders, it appears we don’t really want to hear from peers who don’t share our worldview. There are myriad reasons for this, not the least of which are 1) we like to be comfortable, 2) we like to be right, and 3) too many people believe there’s an empirical right or wrong and that life is a zero-sum game.

What we know

1) We learn best when we’re taken out of our comfort zone.

2) Being “right” is highly overrated. Our need to be right at the expense of considering other ideas, options or possibilities makes us tenacious fighters, but horrible problem solvers.

3) There are often multiple truths (I’m not talking about not alternative facts or fake news), but specific realities that are true for individuals and groups.

Our society’s inability to listen to one another was evident recently as we watched town meetings across the country, where people met to talk (scream at each other) about the Affordable Care Act/Obama Care (yes, they are the same thing), without much intent to even hear, let alone try to understand a different point of view. Good television, bad result.

What We Should Do

It’s time we stopped making good television and begin engaging in thoughtful and respectful dialogue, where rather than try to prove we’re right, we identify points of agreement, build from there, and focus on actually accomplishing something. Conflict is healthy, as long as it involves an open and honest exchange of ideas. It’s how we explore and discover new possibilities. Conflict is unhealthy when it consists of ad hominem attacks and the desire to be right at another’s expense. There’s nothing more divisive.

How We Get There

Expand your circle of peers. A peer is a “person like yourself” not necessarily a person who is exactly like yourself.” Engage more people who look different from you, have different backgrounds, and see the world differently from the way you do.

2. Practice conversational jiu jitsu. When someone says something you don’t agree with, don’t bang heads, ask questions. I’m suggesting you do so NOT to gain an advantage over an adversary, but to seek an advantage for yourself – the one that comes with being a learner rather than a judger – and opens doors for creating mutual understanding and problem solving.

3. Be open to the concept of multiple truths. A number of years ago, in a powerful demonstration at a Dealing With An Angry Public conference (MIT/Harvard) led by Lawrence Susskind, I learned unequivocally that truth is often in the eye of the beholder. Once we start seeing the world from another person’s point of view, it expands our own view, and creates a dynamic for achieving a win-win.

In the meantime, as our institutions work to regain the public trust, I hope Edelman keeps shining a bright light on trust and how we can engage our institutions and one another more effectively. Our very survival depends on it.

Lewis Schiff: Year of the Peer Podcast – Good Givers Are Great Getters

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:43 — 35.5MB)

Lewis Schiff is the author of Business Brilliant: Surprising Lessons From the Greatest Self-Made Business Icons, the executive director of The Business Owners Council, and co-founder (with Norm Brodsky) of BEN Global Mentorship – an organization that helps business owners transform their companies into scalable enterprises and, eventually, enduring institutions with help from rock star entrepreneurs from around the world.

Next week’s guest will be JJ Ramberg, Business Owner and Host of MSNBC’s Your Business!

How Peer Groups For Business Leaders Work

Last week, I offered a framework, or a reinforcing loop if you will, that illustrated why peer groups for business leaders are so effective. This week, I’d like to share the five factors, or five conditions, that are necessary for a group to drive that reinforcing loop. Turns out, you can’t just throw a bunch of people in a room, cross your fingers, and trust that group members will spontaneously engage in the process of learning, sharing, applying and achieving. Because of this, we need to look at the five essential conditions that create the ideal environment for success. They involve:

Select the right peers/have all the right people in the room. Whether you want to lead a company or run a marathon, it’s essential that you involve people who want to do that (or have done that), and who are committed to helping each other achieve their individual goals within a particular domain, whether it’s business, running, etc.
Create a safe/confidential environment. Business leaders need to trust that they are in a safe place. This involves working with peers who treat each other respectfully and their being assured that what happens in the room stays in the room. It’s a place for learning rather than judging, and where confidentiality is sacrosanct. In this environment, group members can let their guards down and have real conversations. How many opportunities do you have to do that?
Foster valuable interaction. While creating emotional safety is necessary, it’s not enough. Intellectually, group members must believe they are engaging in a structured process that helps them solves problems and evaluate opportunities alike. They tend to get to the heart of the matter, instead of wasting time dealing with symptoms and other extraneous issues, and they do so in a way that produces actionable outcomes.
Be accountable. This involves creating a culture of accountability, where group members hold one another accountable for doing what they say they will do (DWTSTWD) to achieve their goals. This accountability doesn’t come from a place of calling people out; it comes from a place of members believing in each other and truly caring about their respective success.
Utilize a smart guide. Leadership, servant leadership specifically, drives higher group performance. Whether the group leader is a professional facilitator or a member leading the group on a rotating basis, the responsibilities are essentially the same. Smart guides need to be stewards of conditions 1-4, and like any great coach, maximize the assets in the room and help the group realize its full potential.

The conditions for group success described here are covered in detail in The Power of Peers: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth & Success – Part II, The Five Factors for Peer Advantage. Turns out, each of these five conditions are evident (in a slightly different form) in high-performing organizational teams as well. As a CEO or business owner, one of the many ROIs you get when you join a group is that you can take what you learn from working with your peers and bring that peer-to-peer experience back into your organization. It’s what Kouzes and Posner call, “modeling the way!” The Year of the Peer is the perfect time to find a group that’s right for you and give it a try.

Next week, I’ll look at the role of the smart guide in greater detail and share what we learned about leading high performing peer groups and great teams.

MLK Day and the “Global Implosion of Trust”

Like many of you this morning, I woke up reflecting on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and what his leadership meant to the civil rights movement and our understanding of the efficacy of non-violent protest. As we celebrate the man, the movement, and the progress we’ve made as a society, we can’t forget how much work there is still left to be done.

To that end, I just read the sobering results of the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer. According to the Harvard Business Review Daily Alert, “For 17 years the Edelman Trust Barometer has surveyed tens of thousands of people across dozens of countries about their level of trust in business, media, government, and NGOs. This year was the first time the study found a decline in trust across all four of these institutions. In almost two-thirds of the 28 countries we surveyed, the general population did not trust the four institutions to ‘do what is right’ — the average level of trust in all four institutions combined was below 50%.”

We cited the 2015 results of the Edelman Trust Barometer in our book, The Power of Peers, How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth & Success. I’ve always regarded it as an important study, and if you follow the evolution of trust as measured by Edelman since 2001, it paints a clear picture of how we got here and why the Year of the Peer movement is so important.

Among 10 insights from the study, I point you to #7 (Peers Highly Credible) “For the first time, ‘a person like yourself’ is as credible a source for information about a company as a technical or academic expert (all three at 60%).” And to #10 (With the People) “The trust crisis demands a new operating model for organizations by which they listen to all stakeholders; provide context on the issues that challenge their lives; engage in dialogue with them; and tap peers, especially employees, to lead communications and advocacy efforts.”

One of the most disturbing facts, which we’ve touched on in this blog, is that too many people have stopped listening. In #6 (Media Echo Chamber), we learn that “People are nearly four times more likely to ignore information that supports a position they don’t believe in; don’t regularly listen to those with whom they often disagree (53%); and are more likely to believe search engines (59%) over human editors (41%).

In my recent podcast with Charlene Li, she said that it will take leaders to move from what she described as the “bully pulpit” on social media back to our having true dialogue and conversations again. So with Dr. King’s powerful example in mind, let’s use the 2017 results as a peer-to-peer call to action to restore trust both here in the U.S. and around the world by having the courage to trust first – to listen more than talk, to learn rather than judge, and to allow the “content of our character” to shine more brightly.

Why Peer Groups for Business Leaders Work

One of my all-time favorite poems is all ignorance toboggans into know by e.e. cummings. In it, he warns us of the dangers of doing what I’m about to do now – offer a simple, singular answer to a complex question. He would most definitely accuse me of striving to achieve ignorance today, with the understanding that I will slide back into knowledge tomorrow (or the day after). To that I’ll plead guilty, and since today is today, and because we all like to boil things down to concepts that are easy for us to grasp, let me take you down the mountain.

In my view, the reinforcing loop depicted above is a big reason that peer groups for business leaders work so well. I’ll start with this comparison: think about any book club worth its salt. Each member reads the book and brings his/her unique perspective on the content to the group. After an hour or two, there isn’t one member who doesn’t understand the narrative and its context more deeply and more broadly than before the conversation began. By examining the book through everyone’s mental models, we become exposed to ideas and perspectives we would never have considered on our own.

We learn best when we learn together. Business leaders who share concepts and ideas with one another also help generate deeper understanding. Better yet, they give each other the courage to act – to actually apply what they learn. It’s one thing to become enamored with an idea, it’s quite another to implement it. Once they try it, and as they work to perfect the new initiative, they begin to achieve the positive results they imagined. The group celebrates member wins together, which only inspires everyone to learn more and continue the cycle.

I’m sure there are a number of you who will help me climb back up the slope to knowledge again by sharing your perspective on what you believe to be the secret to the success of peer groups for business leaders. Since it’s likely there is no one dynamic that deserves 100% of the credit, I hope you will. Where I believe we can agree is that business leaders can help each other in ways they won’t find anywhere else.

Now that I’ve offered my thoughts on why these groups work so well, next week, I’ll take another trip down the mountain and share the how – the 5 conditions necessary for making this reinforcing loop come to life.

Beware of Geeks Bearing Tips

I first wrote about “tips posts” in 2011, but I thought that as we start the Year of the Peer, it’s a topic worth revisiting. The title, of course, is a play on the line, “Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts” which comes from the story of Troy and how the Greeks used a wooden horse to trick their way into the city. Sophocles described it as, “foes’ gifts are no gifts; profit they bring none.”

For me, “tips posts” are no different. They should come with a warning label. While I don’t believe everyone who writes an article or blog post that offers 5 tips for this or 10 ways to accomplish something else is necessarily a geek or one’s enemy, I would suggest, however, that we consume such articles with caution. They typically address symptoms rather than underlying causes. And because they rarely provide the necessary background or root principles that lay beneath them, we’re left with one-liners that, while entertaining, will never by themselves help us transform our behavior in any meaningful way. For that, we have to go deeper.

Can they be helpful from time to time? Sure. Do I read these articles just like everyone else? Absolutely. Heck, I’ve written a few, although I try to avoid it. Let’s face it, any post or article that promises a simple, numerically organized way to address a timely, complex issue can be hard to resist. That’s why writers write them and readers read them. It’s link candy. I’m just suggesting that a steady diet of these posts without something more can be bad for you.

So what are we to do? Two things: 1) Next time, you read a really good “tips” article, engage the writer in the comments section and ask for a deeper dive. Most of the people who write these posts really know what they’re talking about and are more than happy to share what they know. The better you understand the advice, the more likely you will be to adopt it. 2) Read more posts that take you on a more meaningful journey. Click on headlines that don’t give away what the piece is all about. Explore more often and you’ll discover more frequently. Your peers have a lot to offer you!

By balancing our “tips” fascination with a deeper dive into underlying causes and the mindset that drives our basic assumptions, we stand a good chance of converting short-term tips to life-long best practices.

How about this for a post?
Five Ways To Convert Short-term Tips To Life-long Best Practices!

Hmmmm…

Start the Year of the Peer With a Promise & 3 Words

Happy New Year and welcome to the Year of the Peer! This is the year , starting today, when we’re going to challenge ourselves to listen more than we talk, read more than we write, learn rather than judge, and operate from a spirit of generosity and sharing that will enrich our own lives as well as the lives of those closest to us. Let’s make it a year where dialogue trumps debate, where compromise is not regarded as a four-letter word, and where we think abundance rather than scarcity. The world only operates as a zero-sum game if we allow it. Let’s not.

It’s a year for meeting new people, distancing ourselves from the individuals in our lives who drag us down, re-kindling old relationships that have atrophied over time, and advancing our engagement with peers who support us and can help us be our very best selves.

Forget about new year’s resolutions. What are your goals for 2017? What promises are you prepared to make to yourself during the coming year? And more importantly, who are the people in your life who will help you keep those promises? The promise I’m making to myself is to complete by dissertation during 2017. Anyone who is willing to share their wisdom, encouragement, and experience in this area will be greeted with open arms! (Thank you in advance!)

If you’re looking for another device to help you get started, Chris Brogan has been advocating identifying 3 words to live by for a given year, since 2006. I’m going to borrow my three words from the book we released earlier this year titled The Power of Peers: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth & Success. (A handy Year of the Peer manual by the way if you haven’t read it). My three words are network, optimize, and accelerate. In a nutshell, it means I’m going to be more selective and purposeful about the people who surround me in my life; I will pursue perfection in the pursuit of excellence more often, and I will seek out relationships with more people who have completely different backgrounds from my own in an effort to expand my world view.

What promise(s) are you prepared to make to yourself in 2017? What three words will guide you? How will you contribute to making the Year of the Peer the best year ever? Share your thoughts and insights on your favorite social media platforms using the hashtag #yearofthepeer. Let the games begin!

*Don’t forget to join me and my producer Randy Cantrell, starting January 12th for the first of 50 weekly podcasts dedicated to the Year of the Peer! My first guest will be Altimeter Group CEO and best-selling author Charlene Li.

Image: loyaltytruth.com

Check Out Our Lineup for the Year of the Peer Podcast!

As promised, for 50 weeks during 2017, I’ll bring some of the best minds and most fascinating people in the world to the program. They will share their insights, stories, and recommendations about effective collaboration, leadership, accountability, vulnerability, and much more. We’ll talk about what’s next and look at how, together, we can prepare for a future most of us can barely imagine.

It all starts on January 12th with Charlene Li, and I’ll invite guests to the program from all walks of life each and every week throughout the Year of the Peer. If there’s a guest you’d like me to invite to the show, I welcome your suggestions! For both the cause and the podcast to be a success, it will take all of us, so I encourage you to share this post with your peers and get involved!

Subscribe today and don’t miss a single episode! Here’s our lineup for Q1:

January 12th, Charlene Li, CEO of the Altimeter Group and Best-Selling Author
January 19th, Rich Karlgaard, Publisher and Global Futurist for Forbes
January 26th, Lewis Schiff, Founder & Executive Director, The Business Owners Council
February 2th, JJ Ramberg, Host of Your Business (MSNBC) and Business Owner
February 9th, Jim Kouzes, Coauthor of The Leadership Challenge and former CEO
February 16th, Vitaly Golomb, Investor & Global Startup Evangelist, HP Tech Ventures
February 23rd, Rahfeal Gordon, Inspirational Speaker/Author
March 2nd, Etienne & Beverly Wenger-Trayner, Scholars/Authors/Consultants
March 9th, Laura Goodrich, Co-Founder, GWT Next and author of Seeing Red Cars
March 16th, Linda Darling-Hammond, Professor Emeritus, Stanford Graduate School of Education
March 23rd, Leon Shapiro, Coauthor of The Power of Peers and former CEO
March 30th, Bri Seeley & Thais Sky, co-founders of The Amplify Collective

Who you surround yourself with matters! Who’s surrounding you? See you in 2017! #yearofthepeer

Are You Living By High Standards or Lofty Expectations?

I got a jump-start on the Year of the Peer today (the day after Christmas), as I participated in my CEO World online group meeting, where we reflected on 2016 and talked about our goals for 2017. Sharing my goals out loud with a group of my peers helps me hold myself accountable to what I want to achieve in life. Rather than make a New Year’s resolution I’m likely to break, I make a promise to myself that I’m far more inclined to keep, not only because I expressed it to my peers, but also because these are the people who will be there for me next year and who will help me do what I said I want to do. And I’ll be there for them as well.

During our group meeting, I was asked, “What did you learn last year?” I immediately thought about what Rahfeal Gordon said to me when we recorded his podcast last week (which will post February 23rd). Rahfeal said that he lives his life by living up to high standards as opposed measuring success or failure against his or others’ lofty expectations. I feel as if I’ve approached my work on peer advantage and the Year of the Peer with that in mind – in part because I’m not sure what to expect! 😉 Yet, I couldn’t help appreciate the manner in which Rahfeal articulated it for me in such a powerful and simple way. He taught me how to express this idea more clearly to others.

If there’s anything the audiences at events, readers of this blog, or listeners to my podcast can do for the cause (and me) next year, other than to spread the word, lend a helping hand to your peers, and contribute your own thoughts and ideas to the dialogue, it’s to hold me to a high standard of delivering peer-to-peer value. With that, I would appreciate anything you have to share with me on that front, and I promise you that I’ll work to be better each and every day. (There, I said it out loud!)

With a great deal of help, I hope that, together, we can inspire a new consciousness about what peer advantage can mean for all of us if we just put our minds to it. If we embrace the concept “who you surround yourself with matters” just a little more tightly, I think we’re in for a prosperous 2017.

Happy New Year everyone! #yearofthepeer